Blogging

Last night after my kids talked about their bums we went back through my old posts and Tanner discovered that the main topic of most of my blogs had to do with whether or not I got a nap during the day.  It seemed it was a wonderful day if I napped and not so wonderful if I didn't nap.  I also blogged about the dogs alot and expressed how I felt they were dumb many, many times.

This year I am going to try not to blog about the dogs...(this is a boring subject in my mind) and since I haven't had a nap in like two months I will not blog about napping either.  (This does not mean I won't take any naps, I just won't blog about it :)

I have still been considering what my goals for 2011 will be...I think it will be a great year if I can achieve my goals.  I will blog about this subject on Sunday.

I am grateful for 2010 it has been a year of growing, love and fun! 

Bums

Okay have any of you ever had an itchy butt?  That was Tanner's question he just posed to Emma and I.  Emma and I thought it was a very funny question and then Tanner said that he wasn't talking about his butt but just in general. Tanner told Emma he knew her butt was itchy because she moves around on it but Emma replied she moves around on her butt because it is always falling asleep.  Now Tanner is saying instead of it being itchy it is actually a wedgie.  He gets those words confused sometimes he said.  Oh JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZ my kids are making me laugh and I think they are so weird.

Okay that conversation is over.

Today was a really great day with the missionaries coming over and teaching Emily.  Emily has committed to setting a date for baptism!!

I am so grateful for Emily who has been so teachable, humble and special.

The Purple Room

I am so tired.  My mom and I worked on Emma's room for most of the day.  It is starting to come together and actually look nice.  It helps when Emma cleans up the foot of junk piled on her floor!

I will take some pictures tomorrow after we get a new bedspread.

I am grateful for my mom's company today.  I miss doing crafts and projects with her.

Grandparents Enrich Our Lives

Today Grandma just had a little bit of jet lag...that is why she took a 3 hour nap.  We are only a one hour different time zone but it is going to take her till Friday to get use to the time change she said.

It has been a relaxing day visiting with dad and watching movies.  After Grandma's nice winter nap she got up and wanted to eat pizza and now she will be awake until 2am.   She is on vacation after all.  I love to listen to her say things.  Its kind of like when a three or four year old says really fun odd things except Grandma is like 64 instead.  All three of my kids have came to me at different times today and whispered to me that their Grandma is really weird.  Actually Tanner said it about his Grandpa.

I am grateful for Grandparents.

Great Memories

Wonderful Beautiful Day...

Christmas was filled with fun and love (can you tell by Elle's face how much love she feels?)  We didn't get up until 9:30am and then I finished wrapping and filling stockings before I even awoke the kids.  There are some really nice things about the kids growing up...no more 5:30 am Christmas mornings!

 

That afternoon around 4:00 Grandma and Grandpa arrived in the Minnesota COLD. 

It was the best gift of the day!   

That evening we held our Christmas pageant.  It was one to remember.  I started it out by reciting a poem called "The Snow Flake", the girls did a dance to some Korean boy band (this is their newest obsession, at least Elle is growing out of Emo, Emma has grown out of pirates...I wonder how long the Korean Boy Band phase will last?????)

Grandpa and Grandma each told stories of their ancestors.  Grandpa told about his Great x4 Grandmother Hannah and Grandma told about her Great x3 Grandmother Emma Kathrine (yes Emma Kate is her name sake)  they both made huge sacrifices to join the church and care for their families as Hannah came across the ocean and traveled across the plains to settle in Utah leaving England, she had to leave her youngest child in England when she choose to join the church and Emma had to raise her three grandchildren at the age of 65 after their parents both died 6 months apart.

Scott gave a reading from Luke sharing with us the story of Christ's birth.  I love that story.  I wish I could have been one of the shepherds who had the great privilege of witnessing the angel declaring great tidings of joy when Jesus was born.

The missionaries joined us and shared a beautiful song of the season.

Finally Tanner ended the night with a rendition of "The Cremation of Sam McGee".  He had memorized all verses and it was AMAZING!  I am going to miss this wonderful son of mine!

Today was a great day too!  Tanner and Elle both got to speak in church today.  Elle gave a talk on Christmas spirit and what it means to her.  Tanner's topic was on taking the name of Jesus Christ and what that means.  If you have never had a chance to hear Tanner speak you are missing out!  Heavenly Father truly has blessed him with this wonderful talent.

P.S.  Someone told me today that my mom was a character...and now they know where I get it from....I am not sure how I feel about this....

I love my mom and I am grateful for her!

Christmas Eve 2010

Christmas Eve.....means to me....all the best things rolled into one big happy night!

Anticipation
Laughter
scurrying around, last minute shopping
cleaning
excitement
best of friends
beauty
bounty
children
wonder
Delicious food
sounds of music
games
gathering
piles of shoes
piles of gifts
chocolate
stories
love
Christ

I am grateful for a beautiful life

Feeling better and heart broken at the same time

Doing much better today!  Thank heaven for that...I had to make 3 gallons of lentil soup (that was Scott assignment...he is such a good delegater) I had to help wrap 50 presents for secret Santa my ward is doing, I had to help decorate Bethlehem for our ward party, and....I had to help clean up ward party.  It just would not have worked well for my busy day if I had to run to the toilet every other minute today!  This is literally the first time I have sat down today and I am not kidding!  Oh I am dying to go to bed!

I keep finding myself crying at odd times for Tanner.  I am starting to feel so sad that he is leaving.  What am I going to do for the next two years without being able to talk to him?  My heart is aching.  I will miss him so much.  I hope I can get through the next two years with a whole heart. 

I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who set a wonderful example to me by sending His Only Begotten Son to earth to die for us all.  All I am doing is sending my son to Boston for two years, if Heavenly Father can make that unimaginable sacrifice then I CAN make this small sacrifice.

Sick

Feeling yucky.

Elle was so kind to share her sickness with me.

Nauseated, Diarrhea, Headache, YUCKS!

Hoping that I am back to normal tomorrow....much to do.

I am grateful for kids who take care of me when I am sick!

Tis the season to get presents wrapped....I hope

I am going to make this quick.  I have once again had a very busy day and am ready to collapse into bed.  I hope to have some time tomorrow to finish doing some projects for Emma's room and get around to wrapping some presents.  There is nothing under the tree and my girls are not at all pleased with that.  I don't think I have ever gone until this late in the season without having any presents under the tree yet.  On the positive side of things, at least I have now bought some gifts!

I am grateful for the love of Christ.  I hope to develop more Christ like Charity this year.

What's in a number and other random thoughts of a tired housewife

400!

Tonight I will be writing my 400th post. 

I will not be saying much. .

I have been hanging things up and decorating all day.  I want to get the house ready for my mom and dad. 

It has been snowing all day long.  It looks beautiful and clean outside.  I love the first few hours after a snow fall when everything is still pristine and pure. 

I had the flu mist up my nose last Friday and the nurse said that we (Tanner and I) may feel some side effects.
1. Runny nose
2. Stuffed up nose
3. Tired
4. Headache
5. Mild flu like symptoms

Guess what?...Tanner and I have been suffering from number 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the above mentioned symptoms.

I am so excited for Christmas this year, it will be my last with Tanner for two years.

I am looking forward to crawling into bed tonight and snuggling with Scott.  He is not home yet and has to work late (his boss is in town) and when I say work I mean go out to dinner with his boss.  I have never thought of eating at a really nice restaurant as work!  But in Scott's world it is work.  To me work is cleaning up dishes after one spends an hour to prepare dinner.

I am grateful for Christmas!  The best time of year!

My Goals

I have been thinking a lot about this past year.  I have experienced many great moments and some heart wrenching ones as well.  I am so glad I decided to make a goal of blogging every day.  It has given me prospective on my life on a daily basis as I have taken time most days to reflect back on what conspired during the day that was worth blogging about.  Most of my posts have been so excruciatingly boring that I am actually surprised that I even have followers (maybe it is because some of you are forced to read my posts because I send you a reminder each time that a new post has been written).  But I am sure you have all laughed along side me and even at me as the year has progressed.  I will go back through and write a list of my favorite blogs from the year soon.

I have done fairly well in reaching my goals this year.  Even if some people think setting goals is stupid (yes I think I blogged about a person in Jan. last year that told me I was stupid for setting goals) I am so glad I did and feel like my life was blessed so much for setting those goals and trying my best to reach them.

My goals were:
1. Blog daily
2. Read scriptures daily
3. Pray daily
4. Do a good deed daily

I still have room for improvement because I didn't have 100% but by trying to have a 100% I achieved 99% and that is much better then if I had never set the goals!

I can't wait to set my goals for 2011....I am going to start pondering on them.  How about you, will you set goals in 2011?

I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ.  I am grateful for the Atonement.  I am grateful for His example.

The Blessings of the Temple

Today was a special day.  It has been a day I have anticipated for years.  Days like these are the things Mormon moms think about and hope for since the day their little guys are small.  Entering the holy temple is a huge step in Tanner's journey to serving a mission and returning to live with his Father in Heaven as we make sacred covenants there.  If you would like to know more about Mormons and temples you should visit mormon.org

I always knew Tanner would go on a mission.  He started out as a five year old telling me that he would go on a mission if he could go to Colorado (he realized that Colorado was only a skip away from Utah).  When he was about seven he said he would go on a mission if he could serve in the western part of the United States.  Even then he was a huge mamma's boy and didn't want to be to far from me.  When he was around 10 he said he would serve any where in the USA.  Finally when he turned twelve he told me he wanted to go to the other side of the world.  He no longer had a fear of being far away from me.  Tanner will now be serving in the Boston MA Cambodian speaking mission.  I am so proud of my little boy who at the age of 5 told me that he would only go on a mission if he could go to Colorado.  I will miss him lots but I wouldn't have it any other way!

I am grateful for the friends that came to support us as a family with Tanner in the temple.  Today is one of my favorite days of my life! 

Christmas is coming and no shopping has been done!

I am getting so excited to have my mom and dad here for Christmas!  I can't believe that Christmas Eve is only one week away!  Can you believe that I haven't done one single bit of shopping?  It is true!  I have been so busy with getting unpacked and organized and doing RS stuff and doing some more unpacking and organizing and getting Tanner ready for his mission that I have not had a spare minute!  Now tomorrow we are going up to the temple to experience a wonderful day with Tanner, I hope that I can use the rest of the day in the cities to try to get some of the shopping done.  I should have got on line and done my shopping but I didn't even think of that until just this moment....I am kind of in a pickle.  I hope there are still some really cool gifts to give a 13 and 16 year daughter...I am a little worried!

I am grateful that I got the flu nose spray today instead of a shot!  I was totally expecting to have to endure a lot of pain today but the nurse told me that the nose spray was actually better and more effective!

No Christmas Cards this year!

I hope you all will understand but this year none of you will be receiving a Christmas card from the Greer's.  I have thought about this long and hard and have come to the conclusion that my blog will have to be my Christmas card to you all.  I think Christmas cards are a wonderful way to express love and gratitude to the ones you love and especially those that you often lose touch with through out the year (and in some cases years).  But this year I am sure you have all had your fill of the Greers.  You have heard all about the wonderful ups and the lows of my life this year and you don't need to receive an envelope in the mail recounting to you all that we are all happy, healthy and doing wonderful when you can read it here!  You all know that Tanner will be leaving in two and a half weeks to go on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ and that his mom will be boo hooing on January 4th when he actually leaves.  You all know that Elle drives her mom CRAZY but I can't get enough of her (she read me a story last night, Harry Potter 7 and tucked me in bed as I feel asleep to her voice) I love her so much.  Emma drives me CRAZY but in a completely different way then Elle but I adore her and think she is one of the most amazing teenagers I know and I love her completely even with all her weird quirky personality traits.  Then there is Scott, who is the greatest husband on the earth...JS.  I love him with all my heart and soul.

Okay there you have it...it got kinda mushy there at the end but that is the Greer Christmas card!  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!  Stay happy and warm and make wonderful memories with the ones you love.

I am grateful for the yummy hot chocolate that I just drank while I wrote this blog.

Greer Family Christmas Picture!

Because I have been given much I too must give

Today has been full of many blessings.  My friend Ann gave me a much needed massage.  Am I blessed or what?  I got to spend the day with a 2 year old who had the most amazing facial expressions especially when she was mad at Elle.  Am I blessed or what?  I got to deliver cookies to some new neighbors and had a wonderful visit with an elderly woman who lost her husband this year.  She was grateful for our visit (Elle and Kayla joined me) it was so nice to sit in her warm beautiful home.  Am I blessed or what?  I have food in my pantry to throw together a dinner for a family who is sick.  Am I blessed or what?  I got to help a young woman in my ward set goals and help her plan what steps she needs to take in order to find a job. (This helps me see with different eyes just how much I have and how grateful I am for all God has given me)  Am I blessed or what?  I got to run with Elle to buy pizza to feed my own family dinner.  Am I blessed or what?  I can hear Scott in the next room snoring as I sit at the computer and blog about my day, he works so hard so I can stay home and do all these things.  Am I blessed or what? 

The answer is YES, I am BLESSED!  And I am grateful for all that I have, there were many people who crossed my path today that were sick, lonely, hungry, and sad, I have found joy in my life today...I have been given much. 

My life at this moment

Right at this moment I feel:
1. anxious
2. tired
3. in pain, my back has been hurting
4. worried about people
5. craving a cookie

None of these feelings are positive.  I think I need to have a count my many blessings session.

Right at this moment I am grateful for:
1. my kids, they were so helpful to me today
2. the time I have left with Tanner before he leaves on his mission
3. email, it helps with mass communication
4. the sounds of my kids talking behind me

What a wonderful night...Not really

I wonder if you all panic when you don't get that email from me telling you that I have written yet another very interesting post.  I want to calm all your fears because I know that you think that I slipped on the ice on my long steep drive way yesterday and had to go to the hospital.  Just get that thought out of your head because it just isn't true.  What happened to cause me not to write my post for yesterday then you ask? 

I went upstairs to get ready for bed last night around 8:30 with every intention of returning to my computer but as I saw my nice soft bed and a Resses Peanut Butter Cup sitting on my night stand I decided to crawl into bed and eat my treat and read my Harry Potter 7 book for a few minutes....20 minutes later I was sound asleep!  So there you have it.  No emergency...you can all give a collective sigh of relief, on three.  Ready...one, two, three SIGH.

What started out to be a wonderful night of sleep ended up a bit of a nightmare.  Probably around 2am I was awoken by Elle's voice.  She was trying to tell her dad that she was sick. (I am not sure why she was telling Scott this because he is about the least sympathetic person in the world when he is sleeping at night)  I woke to hear Scott tell her "Go back to bed" without an once of compassion.  I said to Elle what is wrong and she said that her tummy hurt.  I asked her if she felt like throwing up and she wasn't sure.  (oh I hate when kids say that, how can you not know if you feel like you are going to throw up??)  I told her to come to my side of the bed and lay down by me.  She got into bed (which left me in the middle next to a big man (that I love dearly, I might add) who is like a huge log in the middle of the night, he doesn't budge for anything even is his wife is trying to push him over a few inches to make room for another large adult size person (remember Elle is now as tall as me! She is no longer my cute little 5 year old who sucks her thumb, but instead a big grown woman size person that has a face full of teenage zits).  As Elle crawled into bed with me she was shivering and just not feeling good.  I began stroking her head.  She was all tense and you could tell every muscle in her body was tight.  I told her to relax and tried to warm her.  Finally after a half hour of this she asked me to say a prayer.  As I lay there and we prayed to Heavenly Father I could literally feel her body melt into mine as she finally relaxed.  It was very tender and then with in 2 minutes she was sound asleep.

So there you have it Elle asleep on one side of me and my big log of a husband asleep on the other side.  I was stuck in the middle!  I didn't sleep another wink all night as I was totally squished and couldn't move even an inch!  Good thing I got a couple of hours of sleep before Elle became sick.

Well I hope you enjoyed my story from last night...I will blog again tonight for today.

I am grateful that my prayers are answered. 

Thoughts of Sunday

Another Sunday here and gone.  Today was a unique Sunday for us because church was canceled because of the weather.  It was an enjoyable day not having to run off to meetings and staying home with the family.  That being said I really do miss church.  I love going and feeling of the spirit that is there, seeing many friends and people that I love and renewing covenants made with my Heavenly Father. 

Tanner has decided that we are going to put on a Christmas Pageant on Christmas Day.  He has informed the family that we must each prepare to recite a poem, sing a song, do a dance, do a skit or something of that sort.  I think I might recite a poem.  We will see....

I am grateful for the men who work hard to clear all the roads, and for the snow blower we got this year.

The Weather Outside is Frightful...but inside it's warm and delightful...Let It Snow

I am sitting here eating my third sugar cookie.  I am in heaven.  I love when we get snowed in and the whole world is far, far, far away.  I got the tree up and fully decorated today.  I am gorging myself on my fifth cookie now.  We were suppose to have our ward party tonight but instead we received a bazillion inches of snow.  Scott has gone out and snow plowed twice today and it just keeps piling up like he never even did it.  It is suppose to drop down  with wind chill -30 below tonight.  Church is even canceled. It seems like this happens about once a year, when all of Minnesota just has to hunker down for a couple of days, it is a really good idea to have at least a 5 day food storage in Minnesota.  I love Minnesota and the crazy weather that happens here. 

I actually love days like this.  It forces us to slow down from our busy lives and just be a family together.  It is a rare day when we are all home no one leaving for ANYTHING and just spending time with one another.

I am grateful for a warm roof overhead.

How do you spell prelit or prelite or prelight pre-lit

My mind is tired.  My body is tired.  It actually feels good to sit down and blog.  I haven't sat down more then 5 minutes today.  Emma helped me start my lovely day at 6:00am and I have been running ever since.  The good news is I bought a Christmas tree today!  (I donated my old not prelit  tree to the church).  I am so excited to put the awesome prelit tree up tonight :)  I think who ever invented prelit trees are brilliant!  It could be way up there with some of the worlds best inventions like; chap stick, mascara, microwaves, cars, airplanes and other marvelous objects that make my life easier.  I will take some pics to show you all my lovely tree when I get it all done.

On a sad but unavoidable note.  We were going to go to the temple tomorrow with Tanner for his first time.  This is a very special time for Tanner but because of the impending snow storm that is suppose to hit sometime tonight and carry on through the whole day tomorrow we felt it better if we postpone the wonderful trip to a day when the anxiety of driving up in a blizzard was not going to take away from the spirit and especially kill me!

I am grateful to live so close to a temple so we can reschedule so easily!

Nap time...NOT

Oh Jeez!  Emma's computer (school issued) has crashed and won't even turn on.  I took it into the computer shop today and just got off the phone with the repair guy.  Sadly it is going to cost a pretty penny to repair it.  I have a love hate relationship with technology.  It is so flipping expensive to repair these stupid computers that seem to get infected all the time.  We install all kinds of programs to prevent this from happening but in our experience sometimes it just happens no matter what.  Scott said that if we get a Mac that they never ever ever ever have problems with virus'.  Do any of you have a mac?  I would like to know if Scott's claim is true? 

I got really excited today because I thought I might be able to squeeze in a little nap this afternoon.  I wish I would not have gotten so excited because it was not to be.  Right when I was going to go lay down someone called and needed me to go pick up their daughter from school and then I realized that I told someone that I would meet them at the old house to pick up a washer and dryer.  So much for that much needed nap :(  I think it has been at least a month since I have had a wonderful middle of the day dream all snuggled up in a soft blankie....maybe next year.

I am grateful that I still have a few weeks with Tanner.

Another great day

Okay so today I went with the missionaries again to go and do some teaching.  This time we meet with a man that was drunk as a skunk!  I love going with the missionaries it is never a dull moment. He told us that he baptized himself in the shower the other day :)

The only thing that is not my favorite thing about my new house is the drive way, it  is on a steep incline.  Today when I backed out of my garage and began the journey down the hill my durango slid all the way in a diagonal line.  I was very lucky I didn't take out the back end of the van.  There was absolutely nothing I could do as I just slide to a stop about half way down the hill.  I have a feeling that I will not be backing out in a very straight line all winter long and not because I am a bad driver!

I am getting excited for Christmas, I wish I had my Christmas tree up but that is on the end of my to do list which is a mile long. If I get it put up by Christmas Eve I will be doing good.  The best thing about Christmas this year is my parents are coming to visit on Christmas day!!


I am grateful for the taste of banana bread.

Great Day

I finally pushed my way through my 2-3 weeks worth of unopened mail!  I thought it would take me half an hour and I was way off the mark.  After 2 and a half hours of opening and throwing out most of it I am so happy to report to all that no one needs to come over tonight and shoot me.  I will live another day to tell another tale. 

I had the best day.  Besides the fact that I did something that I was dreading and putting off way to long, I also went and taught with the sister missionaries.  The funniest thing happened to me.  I say it is funny but if I wasn't the sort of person that just laughs at everything I think I would be questioning my likability.  So we went to see a sister in the ward who has become inactive.  She hasn't attended church for a year or so. I have had much experience with her, helping her in many ways over the last 3 years, needless to say she knows me very well.  Last week when I went to see her she cracked her door about two inches and then told me she couldn't visit with me that she needed to rest and I would need to come back (but then she asked me take her garbage out to the dump that she had sitting next to her door as she turned me away, I got a chuckle out of that.)  I asked her very nicely when I could come back and she told me Tuesday (which is today) as I happily took her garbage out to the dump, I told her I would see her then. 

Today when I showed up I knocked and I could hear her moving around in her apt. she finally asked through the closed door, "who is it?".  I answered "it is Sister Greer, remember you ask me to visit you today?"  Then the funniest thing...she didn't reply or say anything, she just ignored me.  I knocked a couple more times but she  pretended that no one was at the door.  Now I don't know what kind of message this would send you but I think she didn't want to talk to me.  I just laughed because how can you ignore someone that you just asked who was there?  Crazy people....

My next appointment with the missionaries was a great visit with a man who just became a new member.  He is one of the most amazing men I have ever met.  He is from Uganda and lived in a refugee camp for 6 years before coming to America.  He was in charge of feeding and housing 150 people each week (and many times he would have to arrange the burial of  many people who didn't have the strength to live through the  week).  This incredible man has a powerful testimony of Christ and the restored gospel.  It is always uplifting to spend time in his presence.  I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be around such wonderful people.

I am grateful for my warm boots. (We did some tracking in the 12 degree weather..brr)

There is always something to do

I am going to take a minute to say good night.  I am finishing up my day and like I have said in the past there just isn't enough time in my day to get everything done.  I still have a pile of mail I haven't opened for two weeks that needs to be opened.  If I don't get through that pile of mail tomorrow I will need someone to come over to my house tomorrow night and just shoot me.  It seems like there are always 3 more phone calls that I need to make and 10 people that need visits from me and 2 loads of laundry that need to be done and a dishwasher that needs unloading and a floor that needs vacuuming and school work that needs monitoring and scriptures that need reading and a body that needs exercising and a box that needs unpacking and a dinner that needs fixing and it could go on forever....What I really need is a good night sleep!  So with that said, good night and good bye.

I am grateful for a healthy body. 

Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men (and women)

Today was a wonderful Sabbath day.  I felt the spirit so strongly as people bore their testimonies in church today.  I love when I come prepared to receive the messages Heavenly Father has for me.  I love this time of year when we celebrate the birth of Christ.  I hope you all enjoy this holiday and have a wonderful time making memories with the ones you love.

I am grateful for my testimony, I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he is the Savior of the world.

Car Problems

So tonight is going to be a quickie.  I am going to go drop dead into bed in about two minutes.  That is how long it will take for me to wash my face. 

I had a good day of unpacking yet some more things (I think I will be unpacking for about 6 months).  I worked on house stuff for a few hours and then got ready to go to the church to help with our annual LDS Stake Nativity activity.  This is a huge event where more then 200 nativities go on display for two days with lots of local community holiday music and wonderful deserts.  This is open to the whole community and about 2,000 people attend.  I was in a hurry to get to the church to help with this event and just as I got to the top of the hill by my house my car stopped!  I didn't have my cell phone or a coat.  I had my nice dress boots and I was in nice slacks.  I wasn't sure what to do.  I knew I couldn't walk back down the hill to my house because I would just slip and slide all the way down probably on my butt.  So I hiked my body a couple of blocks to a neighbors house that I know from my ward and hoped that she was home.  Luckily for me she was.  I called Scott and had him come get me we went and tried to start the car (no luck) so he had to push me out of the middle of the road.  To make a very long story a little shorter...I made it to my church obligation 45 minutes late, I decided never to leave the house again without a phone and probably it would be a good idea in Minnesota that I didn't leave the house in the winter without my coat either.  Scott and Tanner were able to later get the car started and things should be good....we will see...I have this strange feeling that I may be writing a blog this week about how my car broke down leaving me stranded again!

I am grateful for neighbors who let me into their home on cold Minnesota days.

Brrr it is cold outside

These are for Allison.  She has been begging for some pics.

So a couple of nights ago Scott and I tried out the new hot tub.  There was a skiff of snow on the ground and it was 15 degrees outside.  I decided to wear my hat just in case my head froze off.

Here I am watching Scott from the back door as he opens up the hot tub in the freezing cold.  I was not about to go out there until it was ready for me to make a running dash right into the nice hot water.

It was so relaxing as Scott and I spent a few precious minutes together without any interruptions.

If you look really, really, really closely you might be able to see me! 

Good luck finding me through the steam :)

I am grateful for Elle for going to WalMart with me today, we had lots of fun.



To Do (there is always something to do)

To Do List for Thursday Dec. 2 2010

1. Unpack more boxes
2. Hang up a hundred pictures
3. Put up Christmas decorations
4. Organize my office stuff
5. Do laundry
6. Call piano mover
7. Open the mail that has been collecting for two weeks in a bag
8. Have missionaries and friend Emily over for a lesson
9. Call Charter have another technician come out to house because their service already sucks
10.  Do another hundred little things including phone calls, emails, and bossing the kids around

There really aren't enough hours in the day!

I am grateful for the two girls (not my own two girls) that I paid to come over to the old house today to finish up the cleaning...that was the best idea I had all week! 

Who gave who WHAT?

Once again I am tired.  It is only 6:00pm and I feel like I could go crawl into bed and not wake up for 12 hours.  Emma decided that today was a day she would like to attend seminary so like the nice mother that I am I dragged my butt out of bed just after 5 hours of sleep and took her to seminary. And I have bee running ragged for the rest of the day.  It was so nice to go to my presidency meeting today and have a nice little break from moving my body.  Shauna even called me sweetie and made me some hot apple cider.  I was in heaven for 2 hours.  Then it was back to the grind of cleaning the old house and unpacking the new house.

Elle just informed me that if all I am ever going to write about is how tired I am that I should quit blogging.  I told her ok that I would announce to you all that this is it.  My last blog.  All because my blogs have gotten so lame lately because I am so exhausted.

Speaking of exhausted...I am getting a cold sore.  Scott is also getting a cold sore.  We have been fighting about who gave who the cold sore.  I think Scott has given me his herpes virus.  I don't see any other way other then Scott kindly sharing  his herpes laden lips all over mine and giving me what I didn't want!

I am so grateful for Elle.

Be grateful for everything

I have never felt quite so tired.

I am going to eat my third bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream and then go to bed.

I am grateful for something.  My brain will not work and help me think of something different so tonight I am grateful for all the usual...my family, my testimony, my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, my great life!!  Oh I forgot, I am really, really grateful for ice cream. :)

Random Thoughts

I have a pain in my neck and it feels like it is on fire.  Have any of you felt this pain from moving and unpacking a bazillion boxes?

I feel a great sense of accomplishment because we are making serious progress with unpacking these stupid boxes.(when I say we, I mean the little mouse in my pocket and me!)

No really the kids have been a great help when I can get them to focus and not hide from me.  I heard Tanner tell Emma tonight that he was hiding from mom and not to tell her where he was!

I love the house!  The more things I put away the better I like the house.

I am grateful for the wireless connection we are steeling, (I mean borrowing) from some neighbor of ours until we get our service set up tomorrow!

The Move

Can you see anything wrong with this picture?

How about now?

We started our big day out on the right foot.  Got up early left the house at 8:00 to pick the moving truck up. I dropped Scott off at the truck place and left for home.  15 minutes later I looked out the back window and there I saw Scott outside of the truck.  Most of the truck was sticking out in the road blocking the south lane traffic.  What could be wrong, I asked myself.  I opened the window and yelled out to Scott.

He then told me that he had got the truck stuck on the ledge of the sidewalk.  After 2 hours of he and Tanner trying to get it unstuck,  and I mean he tried everything.  He finally called a tow truck.  (After I told Tanner to go mention it to his Dad that he might want to call a tow truck.  I knew he wouldn't take that advice from me very well, do all the wives out there know what I am talking about here?)

2 hours later the truck was free!  It only took us the next 9 hours to load and unload the truck twice.  I am so glad to have that over with.  And I wish I could have got this in writing because Scott said it was the last time he will ever move!

I am grateful for all the friends who helped us through this long, long, long day!

more moving adventures

Today has been a very busy and once again an exhausting day.  Much packing and even unpacking was done.  We moved the kitchen over to the house today and I unpacked it just as quickly.  Tomorrow the big move will take place as we have a moving truck lined up to take the beds, furniture and the rest of the boxes that hold our mini Barnes and Nobles book store in them.  It is a wonderful feeling to know this will be our last night in this house.  My three painted rooms turned out great.  I am even surprised that the black room is not as bad as I thought it would look.  I will take pictures but not until I get all the finishing touches done.

I am now going to go crash into bed and get up way super early to pack my bathrooms up and move!!!!

I am grateful for the great kids that I have, I love them soooooooo much!

Happy Thanksgiving

Traditions~

Before we moved from Utah we basically could count on the same Thanksgiving from year to year.  My sisters and brothers all gather at my mom and dads and have the traditional Thanksgiving fare and hang out for hours and play games as we go back for fourth servings by the end of the night.  One year we ate at Grandma Dee's and Scott cooked a goose instead of the traditional turkey.  It was rather delicious.  But our traditions have changed over the years since moving away from family.

We found ourselves eating at the hotel Thanksgiving buffet for our 3 years in New Mexico.  I was given the job of decorating the 2 hotels for Christmas while we lived there.  It was a huge undertaking and we (my mom and I) had to begin the process the night before Thanksgiving and also work the evening of Thanksgiving as well as the following 3-4 days after Thanksgiving in order to get 10 12ft.-15ft trees and all the trimmings up before Dec. 1st.  It was quite the undertaking and I was so busy that I didn't have the time to fix a Thanksgiving dinner or worry about the clean up.  While my mom and I would be busy working on the decorating Scott would take the kids to a movie.

Then we moved to Rochester our first Thanksgiving here the kids and I flew out to Utah for a few days.  Scott wasn't able to come with us.  And as nice as it was to see family I missed Scott so much and it was just odd to celebrate without him.  The next year we were invited over to a good friend's home and had a lovely time. The year after this we all drove out to Utah (Scott included) and had a very enjoyable time with family.  But this year we have found ourselves in a bit of a predicament.  We are in the middle of our move.  I have half the house packed up and I have been painting all week long so I have not had the time or energy  to make a big dinner for my family. So this year we found ourselves enjoying a wonderful dinner at the hotel buffet again.  I love to eat at the hotel...they offer so many yummy choices and from seafood, the traditional choices, and even breakfast foods like made to order omelets.  We also went to the movie Harry Potter after our meal.

So as for traditions....I guess we do what ever fits our life at the time.  Some times that means spending time with extended family, sometimes it means working hard and enjoying a dinner at the hotel and sometimes it means hanging out with friends.  I guess that no matter where we eat our meal the important thing is being together with the most important people in my life.

I hope that I will have many years of Thanksgiving dinner's to share with my husband and kids as our lives and circumstances change over the years.  I guess our family tradition is to never be set in our ways and just  go with the flow and whatever life throws at us for Thanksgiving.

On this day of being grateful I truly have a heart over flowing with gratitude for a kind and loving Heavenly Father who loves me and blesses my life with an abundant amount of tender mercies but most of all He blesses me with a family that brings me great joy.  I love them with all my heart!

To tired tonight

I am super tired tonight and will post something really long and sweet about Thanksgiving tomorrow.

I am grateful for a warm house.  Brrrr... it is cold outside!

School is so funny!

Best quote of the day by Tanner

Krystine to Elle,  "Elle go do your math".  Two minutes later I hear Elle laughing while doing her school work.
Krystine to Elle, " Elle what are you doing? Why are you laughing? You shouldn't be laughing, you are doing your school work".

Elle to her mom, "Mom, I am.  I am reading something funny".

Tanner to his mom and Emma in the most serious of tones, "Mom I have never heard a funny math story in my life". 

I am grateful for Scott's ability to provide for his family.

Adventures in Painting

Painting thoughts...

1. It is exhausting when painting 4 rooms.
2. When Tanner presses to hard on the extending roller and snaps it in half, it causes much annoyance to his mom.
3. Emma and Elle are not very good tapers.
4. Breathing in paint fumes for 9 hours causes headaches.
5. Elle and Emma will not be invited to join me in my painting adventures tomorrow.  They are more work to have with me then helping in getting work done.
6. Anyone painting should have a back massage lined up for when the project is done.
7. After priming Elle's room I realized that it probably did not need to be done.  Black paint covers anything!

I am sure I will have more thoughts on painting tomorrow as I try to finish the painting projects!

I am grateful for the missionaries who came over to help me paint today!

What would be hard for you to give up for two years?

Tanner wants me to mention to you all that he is a wonderful guitarist.  He practices faithfully each and every day.  He is starting to improve bit by bit.  I am afraid he will lose any skills he has gained in the next two years as he will not be allowed to practice guitar while serving his mission.  As we get closer to his departure date I have realized just how much he is giving up to serve a mission.

1.  He won't be able to watch the last movie of Harry Potter 7 (or any movie for that matter).
2.  He won't be able to keep up to date on any world affairs and current events. (this is a huge sacrifice for Tanner, it is his passion to keep up to date on world affairs)
3.  He won't be able to read any books, except the four approved by his mission president which are Our Heritage, Jesus The Christ, True to the Faith, (and another that we can't remember at the moment but Tanner is to lazy to go downstairs and check for me) (This also is a HUGE sacrifice for him.  He greatest passion and love is reading.)
4.  He won't  be able to call his mom or skype his mom any time he wants!! (This is a huge sacrifice for him because he loves his mom!)
5. He won't be able to sleep in or stay up all night writing his blog.  (His blog is his life, it is a very serious blog and he has a great following around the world, as he blogs about current affairs)
6.  He is giving up school.  (He loves to learn and is a very dedicated student)

The list could go on and on....He is giving up his next two years, to live a life, dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father as he teaches and testifies of Christ.  I hope you all think of Tanner the next time someone knocks on your door and there is a missionary standing there, please invite them in and listen to what message they have to give to you, they are far from home and give up much to bring a message to you of hope and love.  All the missionaries are sons or daughters of someone like me.  The mothers and fathers are home praying that their kids are safe, feed, and being treated kindly while they are on the Savior's errand.

I am sure Tanner feels like what he will get in return for his sacrifice far out ways what he will miss for two years, otherwise he wouldn't be doing it. I also feel like I will receive blessings as we send our oldest child on a mission.   But knowing that it is the right thing to do doesn't make it easy.

I am grateful for sacrifice.  It brings us closer to our Heavenly Father.

All's well that ends well!

I had a most terrible experience tonight.  I went to Lowe's to buy some paint with Scott and Elle.  After we were through picking out our paint (blue for my bedroom, purple for Emma's bedroom and BLACK (yes I wrote black) for Elle's bedroom, I have to choose my battles with Elle and I figure that a black bedroom is not going to be the end of the world and if it brings Elle some joy then why not, I mean after all it is just paint). 

Okay so back to my most horrible terrible night.  After trying to find my wallet to pay for my purchase and not being able to find it anywhere in my purse I gave up and Scott paid for it.  (Now let me clarify, my purse is not my mothers purse, she carries everything, I mean everything in her purse including the kitchen sink.  My mom could never find what she was looking for in her purse because it was such a mess and disorganized.  This effected me as a child, always seeing my mom get flustered about not being able to find her check book or her keys or her sunglasses or her mind....)  So tonight when I couldn't find my wallet it really bothered me.  I started to reflect back to last time I saw it. I know I had it when I went to close on the house because I had to produce my drivers license and I knew I had it later that day because I just knew.  So what happened to it between then and at Lowe's?  As I gave this some real thought I realized I left my purse unattended in the cart while I was picking out my paint colors.  No it couldn't have been stolen!  After I got home I dumped my purse out to give it one more look through (just in case) but to no avail.  After becoming distraught and searching through the house in every conceivable place I could have placed it I finally decided that yes it was in fact stolen.  I just couldn't believe that some person out there would actually steel from another person.  I was so disappointed in humanity.  I dialed up my bank and notified them what happened and had my card cancelled.  I then was about to make another call to another bank when Scott walked in the house with my wallet!  He found it in the car  I was driving yesterday.  Thank goodness, humanity is good after all!

I am grateful for Scott who found my wallet.

Good things

What to write about tonight?...

1.  We signed on our house today and it is official :)  I am going to paint my bedroom blue.
2.  Harry Potter was good.  But I think my midnight showing times are coming to an end.  I am way to tired to really enjoy a movie at midnight.
3. I usually get phone calls from Emma's teachers but today I had a surprise call from Elle's teacher.  To bad for me (or good thing for her) she had just had her teeth pulled out and she was rather loopy today.  Otherwise I am sure I would have had a rather interesting talk with Elle...we will have to save that discussion for tomorrow.

I am grateful that the stress of buying a home is over.

Harry Potter, Teeth, House

By request....here is my new hair cut and color.  Do you like Allison?

Some mornings I need to begin with a dose of ibuprofen.

Tonight the kids and I will be attending the Harry Potter opening.  Good times will be had by all!  I will get up early with Elle as she will have 4 teeth pulled and then Scott and I will be closing on the new house tomorrow!!!  I am so excited :)  I will be completely worn out by 10:00am. 

I am grateful for kids who keep my young!

Snap shot of my day

If you don't have 5 minutes to devote to the blog tonight then don't continue at this point..  you have been given a fair warning.

Nov. 16
 9:30 pm- I blogged about how my day was going to be devoted to packing.
10:30 pm- I layed in bed and watched how Harry Potter was made and washed my face during the commercial
11:30pm- I told Elle and Tanner to go to bed and  I watched more of how Harry Potter was made and Scott came to bed
Nov 17
12:30am- I found Elle laying in the hallway by my bedroom watching how Harry Potter was made when I got up to use the bathroom I told her to go to bed again and then turned the TV off (she was not happy)
1:30am - I was sleeping snuggled up to Scott
2:30am-I woke up in a cold sweat, drenched from head to toe soaking wet with sweat.  I felt sick like I was going to throw up.  I got up and went to the bathroom
3:30am- I was still hot and not feeling well.
4:30am- sometime between 3:30 and 4:30 I finally fell back asleep
5:50am- Emma walks into my room and decides that on this morning she was going to go to seminary (she hasn't gone to seminary for at least 2 months, we can't get her to go no matter what we do or say or threaten) so for some reason which I don't understand she wakes me up and says come on mom I am going to seminary today.  So of course even though I have had like 3 hours of sleep and feel like crap, I drag my tired butt out of bed and go to seminary because I will do anything to support Emma when she chooses to go to seminary!
6:30am- I read my scriptures while Emma is in class, barely keeping my eyes open.  Heavenly Father will give me points for reading my scriptures this morning even though I don't remember anything I read because I drove Emma to seminary!
7:30am- I fall back into bed and tell Scott I love him and kick him out of bed.
8:30am- I am having a really weird dream although I can not repeat it.
9:30am- I wake up and decide that if I am going to follow my plan in the blog last night I better get going.  I also call my mom and ask her at what age she started going through menopause.
10:30am- I have taken care of emails and other really important things like making pancakes for the kids.
11:00am- I finally have my kids all awake and sitting at the kitchen table.  We then move to the living room and have our scripture study and prayer.
11:30am- I start my packing job.  I am working in the storage room.
12:30pm- I am packing boxes.  I am working in the storage room.
1:30pm- I am packing boxes. I am working in the storage room.
2:30pm- I am packing boxes. I am working in the storage room.
3:30pm- I am packing boxes.  I am working in the storage room.
Do any of you have any idea how many books Scott owns??????  Remember I thought I could work in each room for an hour and pack everything up???  Well I forgot that Scott owns a Barnes and Nobles franchise in our storage room!
4:00pm Elle has a regular babysitting job.  Those cute kids come to our home every Wed. and this Wed. was no different.  Because I am her mom I always help her with her babysitting.  I like to play with Josh (he is 3 years old, my favorite age!) So my packing is coming to a halt.  I also eat for the first time since this morning...I am starving I realize!
5:00pm- I jump in the shower because I have to leave the house at 5:25 and I kind of stink.
5:25pm- I am running to the car with my wet hair.  It is freezing and as I run outside it hits me just how cold it feels with wet hair. (while I am driving I call Scott and leave a message with him I explain to him how sorry I am that I don't have dinner ready for him or the kids.  It was my intention to make dinner today, really! But my life got busy this afternoon (I don't know why?) I told him he could make what I was going to make, that would be pasta with claim sauce, this is one of the kids favorites or he could do what ever he wanted)
5:40pm- pick up friend number one who has an appointment with the Bishop.
5:50pm- pick up a second friend who has an appointment with the Bishop.
6:00pm- arrive at the church and sit through a visit with the Bishop and friend number two.
7:00pm- run friend number two home and pick up friend number three for an appointment with the Bishop.
7:15pm-run back to the church and wait for Bishop to finish appointment with friend number one while visiting with friend number three.
7:30pm- run friend number one home and then drive back to the church.
8:30pm- take friend number three home.  Take friend number 4 to work (she lives at friend number 3 house).
9:00pm- remember that I need to return movies to a friends house and get season 4 and 5 of the Office from her.
9:15pm- return home!  Give Scott a kiss.  Ask him how his day and night have been. Tell him I need to eat something and then I will come and rub his legs for him.
9:30pm- Eat left over Taco Bell (Scott decided that this was what he wanted for dinner.  He hates pasta and claim sauce)
9:45pm- I am sitting here writing my blog...thinking how I promised Scott I would give him a leg massage tonight.

now in the next two hours I will have Tanner help me finish packing the storage room, yes that is right, the storage room is still not totally packed.  (what the heck was I thinking??  I thought it would take me an hour????????????????? Boy am I dumb!)

Lets flash forward to midnight tonight.....I have to go back out and pick up friend number 4 from work (her car is sadly not working).  I am kind of hoping that Emma doesn't get up for seminary tomorrow...it would be nice to have a good night sleep without getting up at 5:50 tomorrow morning, but if she feels like she is starting to get religion then I will of course get up without complaint!

I am grateful for a car that works.... Now I must run and rub Scotts legs.  Bye.

Packing 101

Okay tomorrow will be a big push day for packing.  I need to learn to tell people "sorry, no I can't help you  because I need to get my house packed".  I will do my best tomorrow to stay at home and pack 50 boxes.  Do you think I can do that?  That means I will pack 10 boxes in 5 rooms. 

My five rooms will be:
1. Elle's room
2. Storage room
3. Emma's room
4. Closet and upstairs bathroom
5. Office

I will spend one hour in each room.  I will remain focused and driven.  I will throw lots of stuff away.  I will whistle while I work.  I will feel relief when I finish my day.  I will tell people "sorry, no I can't help you because I need to get my house packed".  Let me practice that one more time.  I will tell people "sorry, no I can't help you because I need to get my house packed".  I can say no and not feel guilty about it.  I should say no to people tomorrow when they call me to ask for my assistance.  I mean I will say no to people tomorrow when they call and ask for my assistance.   I have prepared myself for my big day tomorrow.  I know I can do it.  If I get my house packed then that means I get to move into a new house that I like much better then the house I am living in now.  Okay I have decided that tomorrow is the day that I will pack!

I am grateful for my new hair color and cut.  I really like it.

pictures of winter in MN

Can you believe that Tanner could create such a mess? 

Can you believe that I can make sure a yummy cookie?

Can you believe that I wore this hat from 9am until 10pm last Friday (it was very cold) Tanner had never seen me in my hat before and he really liked it! 

 (I think I will have to buy one for him to wear while on his mission)

I am grateful for my trials.  What doesn't kill me shall make me stronger.  

Sometimes I think Elle and Emma are going to kill me! 

We had a doozie of a scripture study and day for that matter.  If it is not one girl putting me in my grave it is the other!  All I want is one whole day without any

teenage, girl, school, sibling, clothes, drama!!! 

A Family Growing Up

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is almost here!  I love Thanksgiving dinner and this year I think we are going to be eating turkey sandwiches that I buy from the store the day before.  We are going to be right in the middle of our move and I won't have a kitchen set up in either house.  This will be a Thanksgiving to remember!  Sometimes you just have to be flexible and go with the flow and this will be one of those holidays.

I feel very blessed this year to be moving into a house that I really adore and actually I would rather be eating cold turkey sandwiches with my family then doing anything else.  This will be my last Thanksgiving with Tanner for quite some time.  He will be leaving for his mission soon and then I am sure after he returns he will be off to school and not flying home for Thanksgiving any time soon.  I bet this is the last time we have Thanksgiving together as a family (just the 5 of us) ever again.  In the near future Emma will be leaving to go explore and live her life.  Then the kids will be bringing boyfriends and girlfriends home and even husbands and a wife to  join us or the kids will be off somewhere else for this holiday. 

I am grateful for the peace I feel about my kids growing up.

Bee Hives out in the Snow

Another Saturday come and gone.  It was cold and windy, just what old man winter ordered up for our first real winter day.  It seems strange that it is already the 13th of Nov. before we had our first real blast of winter.  We are expected to get 10 inches of snow sometime in the next couple of days so I hear...in Minnesota the weather is always a hot topic (or should I say cold topic?).

Emma and I went and got our hair done today.  The hair dresser made me up to look like a girl with a beehives nest on the top of my head.  I always hate it when other people style my hair but at least it made Emma laugh. 

I was able to pack another 5 boxes today.  I figure if I keep packing at this pace I might manage to get out of this house and into the new one by the end of Dec.! 

I am grateful for warm clothes.  Elle mentioned to us tonight that she loves shopping for clothes at Gander Mountain.  Both Scott and I were surprised by this comment because you realize this was coming from our Emo daughter and Gander Mt. is a sporting goods store.  Scott then asked her why and she said because the clothes there are warm!  (It was a little cold today)

Snow Falling

I guess it was my Christmas blog that encouraged the snow to start falling today!  I love the first snow and today was no exception.  I made the kids hot chocolate and cut up some fruit for breakfast and it was so holidayish as we sat and ate as we listened to Tanner complain that he is not ready for the snow.  I had a great day of packing here and there while I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  I listened to radio.lds.org as I packed it was such a relaxing afternoon.  A great friend of mine came over and sat on my couch while I packed some more boxes this evening.  It is the best to have someone to talk to while working!  Well now I only have 85 boxes to pack.  Every little bit helps right!  I have to start thinking about how to fix all those holes in my walls where a nail once was.

I am grateful for the end of the week. 

Boxes

I got 2 boxes packed today!  I am well on my way to packing another 100 boxes by next week! 

As you can see I spent a good amount of time playing around with my blog design.  Much to much time.  I should have been packing.  I am not sure I will stick with what I chose today but I like a little old fashioned christmas.  This reminds me of my mom and I am not sure why. 

I am grateful for nights when I get to work on my computer while Scott lays next to me working on his.

I am a follower...how about you?

So I didn't take the day off today.  I realized that if I took the day off then everything on today's list would just get pushed to tomorrow's to do list and that would only double my list for tomorrow!  I decided that it is best to just work at my today list one item, one day at a time, and not take the day off.  Besides, it was great to go visit the people I needed to visit today, what a blessing people are!

I had two people give me quotes today.  I think they felt sorry for me after my last couple of blogs.  I hope I am not to much of a complainer but rather I am just being me and letting things off my mind for the whole world to read!

One quote went like this "a good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctors book".  (I love to laugh, just ask my kids!!  I love to sleep, just ask my kids!! I wish I could get more of both, then maybe I would never be sick or feel badly about anything in the world...)

The second quote was this "As members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we
are expected to be righteous not just appear to be righteous. What we believe, what we say, and what we do should all be the same thing. This is the definition of integrity." 

I hope to have my beliefs match up to my actions and words.  Some times it seems harder then other times  but it is a choice we all make every day.  How we (meaning me) treat our fellow mankind no matter what their religion, skin color, language, income, education, beliefs and background, really shows if we are true disciples of Christ.

I am grateful for the pure love of Christ in my life.

Helping Hands

Today was much better then yesterday.  I got up this morning and right away called the Dr.  He promptly called in a prescription (I didn't even have to go to his office!) and I am already feeling better :)  I have only sneezed 2 times today and my head didn't feel like it was swimming in snot!  Much improved, don't you think? 

I got a letter from my dad after he read my blog last night and he gave me some fatherly advice..."slow down and take care of yourself Krys" he said.  So I decided to do just that.  I am taking the day off tomorrow.  So if you are reading this blog and live near me please pass the word around that the RS Pres. is taking the day off.  (Just Joking!!  I am not taking the day off!) 

I got a good laugh from something someone told me today.  I had called them to ask for some last minute help with something and they said to me "don't you know I am in a presidency and I am always asked to do everything, so I think I will pass on this one".   I think this person was forgetting that they were talking to the RS Pres....I can't even tell you how many calls I get each day to do something for someone (I lose track by 10 am but I am sure if you asked Elle she could tell you how many calls I get because she doesn't like to relay all the messages to me when I am out doing things for other people!)

Really people I am just playing around here, I love to serve and help others, it just seemed so funny to me what this person said.  I hope I can always have a great attitude when serving those in need and do it  with a happy heart and treat others the way I want to be treated.  I don't want to feel like I am some one's hundredth phone call of the day but rather like I am the first phone call of the day.  That is my goal to be that kind of person.

If any of you need anything tomorrow please don't hesitate to call, I can't wait to hear from you even if you just want to chat!

I am grateful for all those who serve me!

The List

Ooh Yawn.  I am so tired. 

Monday list.

1.  I think (actually I know) I am feeling worse today then yesterday.

2. I am starting to get a UTI on top of fighting a head cold.  Which one is worse?  Of course the UTI.

3. I have drank 100 gallons of water today to try to get rid of my UTI but now I am having to pee like every 30 minutes and it is annoying.

4.  What is more annoying...A. having a head full of snot and having to sneeze and not having any Kleenex nearby and so you have to sneeze down your shirt and all over your boobs instead of all over the people next to you (you should thank me Valeri)...or B. having to pee suddenly and not being close to a bathroom so you just freeze in place and try to hold your pee so you don't pee your pants but you just can't hold it and so you run to the bathroom and pee your pants a little because you are not fast enough to get their in time?

5. I can't hear very well because my ears are all plugged up with fluid that is swimming around in my head.

6. I hate having to breath threw my mouth.

7. Remember last week when I was grateful for my health?  What happened?  Things can go down hill very fast!

8. I think I miss Scott more because I am sick.

9. I think I am glad Scott is gone right now because I don't have to worry about cleaning the house (the kids don't care if it is dirty) and cleaning the house is the last thing I want to do right now!

10. Nobody should come to my house right now.  It is very dirty and I will feel bad if you come over.  So DON'T!

Okay I am going to bed now.

I am grateful that I was able to accomplish so much today even though I felt yucky and Tanner says he loves me even though I am sick!

What language do Cambodian's speak?

The four hardest languages to learn (based on the State Dept list) are:
1.  Chinese
2. Japanese
3. Korean
4. Arabic

Just a tid bit of trivia that I know you are all dying to know!  But this is the kind of conversations that we have in our house on an average Sunday night.  We are always learning really interesting things about language and other really odd facts about things that Emma really doesn't care to know about.

Khmer is the language that Tanner will be learning it is a level 3 language according to the State Dept.  The State Dept. labels all languages according to its difficulty.  Only 4 languages make it onto the State Dept. hardest level 4 list and they are listed above.  Level 1 languages are Spanish, French, Italian, German (they are Latin or Germanic languages, like Western European languages).  Level 2 Swahili, Finnish, Greek, and Hindi are among the second easiest to learn.  Some other level 3 languages are Timil, Hebrew, Russian, Turkish, Mongolian, Indonesian.

Emma and I have decided that we think any language other then English is a level 4 to us and even English is a level 2 to us!

I am grateful for my family!  Like my friend Valeri tells herself when she is struggling with her children "Children are a blessing".  This is what I have been telling myself all night long!  But at least we are ending on a good note :)

Another Saturday....

Once again my Saturday was busy as can be.  I started out with helping to make 1500 cookies (I of course only helped with a small portion of that task but still I was a part of the effort) then on to a baptism where I gave a talk on baptism.  I felt like I was going to puke and pass out during my talk and I am not sure why.  I never get stage fright but this time I almost didn't make it through the talk.  I think I might have had my knees locked.  It was one of the strangest feelings I have ever experienced.  After the talk I went to watch a football game but actually had a much better time visiting with a few friends then watch the Utes get their butts kicked.  Later I worked on my lesson for tomorrow and also ran to the store store with my friend.  Now as I am sitting here blogging I am listening to my kids debate the silliest things like what song lyrics mean.  Elle is getting very angry about all of this.  Tanner is annoying her greatly!  Okay I am so tired and am fighting a cold so I must end my blog for tonight and go to bed.

I am grateful for life!  Even at its worse it is pretty wonderful!

The Office vs Devil Wears Prada

I don't have much time to write anything of interest tonight.  I just got home from making a shake run and now I must hurry to bed so I can put The Office on before Scott can put The Devil Wears Prada on.  This is our nightly ritual lately.  Who ever gets in bed first gets to choose the movie and we each are obsessing over different shows right now. 

So good night all....

I am grateful for raspberry shakes from Culver's!  The best in the world (maybe Iceberg in UT has equally great shakes).

New Craft Idea

Thanks to my friend Kathy for showing me this really cool new obsession Wordle.net and to Tanner for helping me get my creation onto my blog!  I hope you all like it.  I think I might do this for a craft for those of you that might be interested in making one let me know.  I am going to figure out how to send it to Sams and have it printed out in a poster size and then get it framed.  I used the Proclamation on the Family document but you can use anything....like for instance I could put in words like Greer, Love, Family, Emma, Elle, Tanner, Mom, Dad, Family, Crazy, Fun, Loud,  (the more words you use the better just come up with lots of adjectives to be descriptive about your family) or maybe do something like favorite movies and movie quotes the possibilities are endless...

I am grateful for my kids they make me laugh :)

My boring life

All I want to do is lay down and veg but that is just not my fate today.  I have been on the run since my eyes opened today.  This is the first time I really have had any time to myself so I thought I better use it wisely and get my blogging done for the day.  So that is all I have to give you today....I know really boring blog you are asking yourself right now why the heck did I waste these last 30 seconds of my life reading this junk??

I am grateful for my health.  I have had a couple of reminders today of when I had my hysterectomy and how sick I was. 

Which is better, to be a nag or lazy?

I miss my sweetheart.  Scott is in NY and I am here in Rochester.  I think a trip once in a while is a good thing.  It helps the heart grow fonder.  I know that every time I go to Utah without him I come back home to Scott wondering why I went in the first place because I  miss him so much when I am gone. 

Elle told me tonight I was a nag. All I asked her to do is clean her room (at 9am this morning, then I asked her if she had finished her chore at 9pm tonight, I didn't bring it up to her at any other time today).  I told her I would quit nagging if she just did it!  I mean there would be no such thing as a nag if whom ever you are asking to do something just did it, right?  I hate when people refer to others as a nag.  That only tells me that that person calling the other a nag is actually lazy.  If they don't do what they are being asked to do and enough time has gone by that the asker of the task has to remind the person that they have a job to finish (or start in Elle's case) then that person is really just a lazy butt and needs some reminding (or nagging) in the first place!  Don't call me a nag....just do what you are asked!   Is this to much to ask for????????????  HONESTLY this annoys me JS!

I am grateful for my family's imperfection...life would be so boring if we didn't have virtues to work on!